


Better Than Words

by carwood



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Dancing, F/F, Fluff, Gifts, Ice Skating, Kissing, M/M, Presents, Wedding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 17:42:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14117550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carwood/pseuds/carwood
Summary: Gene begins to receive anonymous gifts and the identity of the sender perplexes him.





	Better Than Words

Eugene rubs his eyes, letting them adjust to the bathroom light. He looks in the mirror, running his hand through his hair. There was a ring of red around his eyes from the lack of sleep. He had worked late at the hospital and now had to get up early to go in again. 

The sun was barely peaking above the horizon. Eugene moved to the kitchen, starting a pot of coffee and grabbing a banana. He begins eating, grabbing yesterday's newspaper and leaning against the counter top to read.

Eugene begins humming to himself, eyes skimming over the stories. He likes to stay informed but he couldn’t bring himself to read a full page on the business dealings of his small town. By the time Gene is finished reading the paper, his coffee is finished and cool enough to drink. He pours a third into a mug and the rest into a thermos to take in. 

Gene goes back upstairs and finishes getting dressed, gulping his coffee down. He grabs his coat and bag before looking at the clock, realizing that he was running late. 

“Ah, shit.” Gene sighs, grabbing his thermostat and running out the door. He walks out onto the porch and his foot hits something, almost causing him to trip and fall down the stairs. Gene catches himself right before he face plants. 

“I don’t have time for this.” Gene groans. There was a package on his porch, which was what he tripped over. Gene grabs the package and puts it in the passenger's side of his car, deciding to deal with it later. 

\--

“Long day?” Gene asks, purposely bumping hips with a frazzled Renee.

“It’s 6 am.” Renee chuckles, not even looking up from the papers she was flipping through. Her fingers were worn from the work, including a cut on her finger tips from the papers she was handling. The clean, sparkling engagement ring on her hand looking out of place. The diamond was small, but Gene know how much it meant to her and Claudine. 

“Didn’t you have the night shift?” 

“No, Augusta covered for me.” Renee smiles, looking to Gene. Her eyes search his, looking up and down. “You okay?”

“Tired.” Gene shrugs.

“Ahh, so the usual?”

\--

Gene walks towards his car, visibly exhausted. His feet visibly dragging and head spinning. The door sticks as he goes to pull it open, making him tug harder. He plops down into the seat, letting his head rest against the back before sitting up with a sigh, starting his vehicle.

His hand goes to shift into gear when he sees the box out of the corner of his eye. Gene’s hand travels to the light above his head, flicking it on. The box was simple, no markings on it to indicate it was delivered by mail, but Gene already knew that considering last night the box wasn’t there and no delivery person comes between the hours of midnight and five am. 

He grabs the box and tugs at the tape, which thankfully gives away quickly. He opens it up and sees something fuzzy and yellow. Gene grabs it and comes face to face with a beak, a beak of a stuffed duck toy to be more specific. 

“What…” Gene sighs, turning it over in his hands, feeling the soft material. Gene’s mind is beyond processing the toy duck so he sets it back into the box and puts it on the seat, putting the car into gear and driving home.

Despite the mystery around it, Gene still brings the plushy up to his bedroom. He was far to tired to contemplate who had given him the gift. He tosses it onto the bed and strips out of his clothes until he was just in his underwear. He makes sure his alarm is set for 5:30 am and flopped into the bed. His hands instinctively reaches for the duck, cuddling it close to his chest.

\--

“I can’t believe you’re having a winter wedding.” Gene shivers, looking to Renee, who smirked and then sipped her hot chocolate.

“It’s not like it's outside.” Claudine scoffs, “Besides, I love the winter.”

“I’m cold. All the time.” Gene says.

“Wear a hat.” Babe suggests, raising his eyebrows. 

“Oh and mess up the masterpiece that is his hair?” Renee teases, reaching across the table and purposely messing up his hair.

“Hey.” Gene whines, ducking his head out of the way and going to fix his hair.

“Speaking of weddings, we have invitations for you two!” Claudine says, reaching into her bag to pull out two envelopes.

“Too cheap to pay for postage?” Babe jokes as she hands it over.

“Ha-ha.” Claudine says dryly, waiting expectantly as they open up the envelope, Babe tearing it anticipation while Gene makes sure he rips the paper as little as possible. He pulls the actual invitation out, admiring the thickness of the lavender paper and the elaborate calligraphy. 

“It’s a beautiful invitation, truly.” Gene says. 

“Mmm, not sure if I can make it.” Babe jokes, causing Gene to reach out and slap him in the arm. 

“Ah, shit.” Claudine sighs, looking at her watch. “Sorry to duck out early on you boys, but we are going to be late for our cake tasting.” 

“Oooh, pick chocolate, please.” Gene says, standing up and giving Renee a hug and Claudine a kiss on the cheek.

“Don’t listen to this dumbass, strawberry or vanilla or both.” Babe says, hugging them each before sitting back down across the table from Gene. 

“What are you doing on the rest of your day off?” Babe asks, eyes following the girls out the door before moving back to look at Gene, admiring his pale skin against the jet black of his hair and sparkling blue of his eyes. 

“Napping, at some point.” Gene chuckles, drinking the last of his coffee.

“Well I don’t want to take you away from your precious beauty sleep, but I had in mind going down to the ice skating rink.” Babe offers.

“Babe, I genuinely would, but I’d freeze. And I really am tired.” Gene’s face drops. He wants to see Babe and spend time with him, but just not today. 

“I understand.” Babe nods, feeling a his chest tighten and a knot form in his throat.

“No, Babe.” Gene sighs, dropping his head. “I’ve worked double shifts at the hospital for a week. I really am exhausted. Any other day, I’m serious. I have a day off next week, we can hang out then.”

“Okay.” Babe nods, forcing himself to smilie. “At least let me walk you home.”

“I’d love that.” 

\--

“Again?” Gene questions, picking up the box on his front porch. He had went out to grab the mail, and there was another box, similar to the other, plain and unmarked. 

Gene took the mail out of his mailbox. Two letters, one a paycheck from the hospital and the other a bill from the electric company. He carries the letter and the package inside, dropping them both on the dining room table. 

He makes a bowl of cereal and then returns to the package. Gene carries a knife from the kitchen with him and cuts through the tape. 

At the top of the box was a wool blanket. He pulls it out and wraps it around his shoulders, letting it warm him on the cold day. Even inside with the heat cranked all the way up, the winter winds managed to make their way to him. 

Still inside the box is a hat of a similar material. Gene takes it and hangs it up on the hook by the door right next to his coat before returning to his now slightly-soggy cereal. He usually turns on the news while eating, just to have something to occupy his mind, but he didn’t need it today. He was overwhelmed with curiosity about who the packages were from. 

Anyone with any sense knew that the packages were from the same person. He just didn’t know how a duck plushy, a blanket, and a hat were related to him. He can’t remember mentioning ducks or needing a blanket to anyone. 

He was pulled out of his curiosity when his phone rings. Gene picks it up quickly, seeing Babe’s name.

“Hello.”

“I hear it’s somebody's day off.” 

“You heard right.” Gene chuckles, taking another bite of his cereal.

“Are you still free? Want to see that new action movie that just came out, and then maybe go ice skating?” Babe asks.

“That sounds amazing, I was just going to spend all day doing taxes, so I’m glad you’re giving me an excuse to further procrastinate.” Gene finishes his cereal, drinking the rest of the milk at the bottom of the bowl before walking to put it in the sink.

“Perfect, I’ll see you in an hour? I can drive.”

“See you then.”

\--

“No, no, no.” Babe groans, tossing the empty popcorn bag and drink into the trash. “You’ve got it all wrong, we are supposed to think he’s the bad guy that way we don’t realize who actually is.”

“Yes, but in the end he is also a bad guy.” Gene shakes his head. 

“We need to rewatch that movie.” Babe sighs, eyeing Gene as he pulls the hat out of his coat pocket and pulls it on over his ears. “Love the hat.”

“Hey!” Gene says, shoving Babe playfully. “It’s cold outside!”

“I was being serious.” Babe rolls his eyes, holding the door to the movie theater open for Gene to step out of. The sun was reflected from the snow right back into their faces, causing Gene to shield his eyes.

“Still down for ice skating?” Babe asks as they make their way to his car. 

“Of course.” 

\--

“You are the one who offered to take me ice skating, I figured you would know how to!” Gene laughs, skating around the small outdoor rink as Babe stood by the entrance, clutching the wall. Because it was a weekday afternoon, there was only a couple other people coming in and out of the skating rink. 

“I didn’t think you knew how to either!” Babe groans, watching as Gene turned on his skates to skate backwards.

“Okay now you are just showing off!” Babe yells as he lets go of the wall to take a shaky couple of steps forward. Gene slows down, extending his hands to Babe. Babe takes them and lets Gene slowly pull him along, legs shaking the whole time.

“Gene! I’m gonna fall!” Babe shouts.

“No, you’re doing great, come on!” Gene says, moving slightly faster. 

“Gene, no.” Babe warns, feeling his left foot start to slip away. Gene ignores his protests, continuing to pull Babe around the rink. 

Babe’s foot fully gives away and he falls forward, directly on top of Gene. They both land with a heavy thud, Babe hitting his forehead right against Gene’s chin. 

“Are you okay?” Gene asks, taking Babe’s face in between his hands, checking him for any injuries.

“I’m fine.” Babe nods, rolling off of Gene.

Gene gets up easily, but everytime Babe tries to stand up, his blade tilts to the side and he lands back on the ground. Gene knows that he should help him, but he can’t help but watch him attempt a couple times. 

“Here, take my hand.” Gene says. Babe grips his hand and lets Gene pull him to his feet. 

“Why don’t we take off our skates and get some hot chocolate?” Gene offers. 

\--

“I thought you said hot chocolate.” Babe eyes the coffee in between Gene’s gloved hands.

“I like coffee better.” Gene shrugs, taking a sip and letting the bitterness wash over his tongue. It was not that he particularly likes the taste of coffee. He had started drinking it to wake him up during the early morning shifts and now has acquired a taste for it.

“You should be drinking less coffee and more water!” Babe says.

“Don’t you lecture me.” Gene laughs. “I make sure I’m drinking and eating a healthy amount of everything. I just don’t particularly like to drink water. So tasteless.”

Babe rolls his eyes, but can’t stop the smile from appearing on his face. “You’re ridiculous, you know that?”

“Oh I’m the ridiculous one?” Gene scoffs.

“Don’t even!” Babe shouts, reaching across the table to shove his shoulder. 

\--

“How was your date?” Renee asks, raising her eyebrows.

“What date?” Gene sighs, grabbing a vial and transferring it onto his cart. 

“Movie and ice skating with Babe.” 

“Listen, I am currently dealing with the most unruly patient right now and I don’t want to even argue with you about this.”

“Ooh, defensive about the date?”

“It wasn’t a date!” Gene groans. 

“Are you sure? Did you hold his hand?” Renee questions.

“Hold his hand? No?”

“Not even while ice skating?” 

Gene is quiet for a moment. “How did you know?”

Renee gasps, “See? You hold hands it's a date.”

“That’s not how dates work.” Gene says, smiling sarcastically as he walks away. Despite his denial to Renee, he couldn’t help but think about if it was a date or not. He didn’t feel that way when they first went out, but now looking back on it he wasn’t sure.

\--

“This can’t be a coincidence.” Gene sighs, holding the package in between his hands. It was the exact same box as before. This time it contained a water bottle, the kind with a fruit infuser to add taste.

Only two days prior did he have his conversation with Babe about finding water tasteless. And now this. He just couldn’t figure how the duck, blanket or hat was connected to Babe. 

He takes the water bottle and uncaps it, grabbing two lemons and cutting them in quarters. He puts them into the fuser and fills the rest with water, taking a long drink from it.

“Ain’t half bad.” Gene shrugs, deciding to not make coffee this morning and see how he fares. If he ends up wanting it later, Gene knows he can always get it at the coffee shop across the street from the hospital. 

Gene’s mind doesn’t stray from Babe until he gets to work. He knows Renee is bound to tease him endlessly about the gifts if he clues her in at all. Instead he decides to keep silent the whole day, even trying to hide himself drinking from the bottle because he knew that Renee would see it and ask where his coffee was.

“Still coming out to eat with Claudine and I?”

“For some more wedding talk? Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Gene says, handing Renee her coat.

“Oh well you can see your boyfriend as well.” 

“Babe?” Gene questions quickly before he can catch himself. “Not that he- No. He’s not my boyfriend.”

Renee laughs as she slings her bag over her shoulder and walks out the door, knowing exactly what she had done.

\--

“Stop stealing my food.” Claudine laughs, reaching to Renee’s plate and taking a fry in place of the mozzarella stick Renee had stolen. 

“You guys are the absolute cutest.” Babe says, smiling at them.

“Oh god, aren’t they?” Gene says, gushing over his friends. “I truly can’t wait ‘til the wedding. Both in their gowns. Hair all fancy, makeup did.”

“What are you guys wearing for the wedding?” Claudine asks.

“About that, Renee, I’m gonna need you to come shopping with me because I have a suit and shoes but no tie or watch to go with it.” Gene says.

“The wedding is in a week!” Renee says, obviously exasperated. 

“That and you are assuming that Renee would be helpful picking out your outfit.” Claudine laughs, shaking her head.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Renee questions. 

“Much as I love you, I cannot let you make a decision for this wedding without me going over it, otherwise we would have wildly clashing bridesmaid dresses and table settings.”

“Ooh, she’s calling you out.” Babe laughs. “But seriously, Gene, I’ll help you out with it, you don’t gotta worry.”

“My hero.” Gene smiles. 

\--

“Was it you?” Gene questions Renee over the phone, holding the box in his hand.

“Was what me?” Renee asks, rubbing her eyes. She was woke up by the phone call. 

“Did you send them to me?” 

“Gene, I love you dearly, but I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about.” Renee says groggily.

“Put Claudine on the phone.”

“She’s still asleep. Please, Gene, unless this is an emergency I don’t wanna wake her up. You know how she gets in the morning, especially because she’s been so stressed over the wedding.”

Gene takes a deep breath to calm himself down. “No, don’t wake her. Just have her call me once she gets a cup of coffee into her.”

“Okay, will do. I love you bunches, Gene. See you at work later.”

“Love you too.”

Gene hangs up the phone and drops it onto the table. He looks at the box again. The gifts in the past were relatively cheap. The fancy infuser water bottle was pushing it. But this was too much, too expensive. The tie was the first thing he saw, a nice material. Obviously expensive.

He had lifted it out, already stunned, only to reveal a watch. It wasn’t the most expensive brand, but it was expensive enough. Gene had decided it had to be Claudine. Since it wasn’t Renee and there was only one other person who had heard what he needed a tie and watch. He wasn’t even going to ascertain the thought of it being Babe.

As the wedding gets closer, it completely slips his mind to ask Babe about it. Being Renee’s best man and closest friend, he is putting so much effort into the wedding it was if he was getting married himself. 

\--

“You look beautiful.” Gene says, holding Renee’s hands in his, feeling his eyes well up with tears just looking at her in her wedding dress.

“You cannot cry!” Renee shouts. “If you cry, I’ll cry and I don’t wanna ruin my makeup before I even walk down the aisle.”

“Speaking of walking down the aisle, it’s almost my turn.” Gene could feel the fluttering of nerves in his stomach as he hugs Renee tightly, whispering one last final love you into her ear before letting go. 

He takes the arm of Erica, Claudine’s sister and maid of honor. Gene takes a deep breath as the doors are pushed open to reveal the full church. 

The room is decorated beautifully. The theme was light pink and yellow, and flowers adorned the aisles. The light coming in through the windows was soft and the music was perfect. Gene knew it was Claudine’s doing.

They get to the end of the aisle and Gene takes his place to the left, turning to see the other pairs walk down. Claudine walks down the aisle first, dress structured on the top and light and flowy at the bottom. She takes her place at the head of the church, turning in anticipation to see her wife to be. Gene’s breath catches in his throat as Renee comes into view. He had been friends with Renee since high school, they went to the same college and currently work in the same hospital. He saw the evolution of their relationship, from first date to wedding.

He told himself he wouldn’t cry, but tears were streaming down his face from the time Renee stepped into the church to when they said their I do’s and walked out of the church together. Gene wipes his tears as everyone gets up to move to the reception area.

“Didn’t take you for a crier.” Gene hears. He looks up and Babe is standing in front of him, hand in pockets and smirk on his face. 

“Didn't think I was.” Gene laughs, looking Babe up and down. He looked incredibly handsome in his suit, Gene couldn’t tear his eyes off of him.

“You look great.” Gene says as they walk towards the reception area together, hanging back from the crowd so they could still carry a conversation.

“Thank you. You look handsome as well. The tie and the watch really look great.” Babe smiles.

Gene knows that it could be a coincidence, but as they walked into the reception area and as they sat down at their table (seated next to each other, thanks to Renee), Gene couldn’t take his mind of the seemingly innocent compliment. 

Almost every gift he could relate back to Babe, but he didn’t know why Babe would give him anything, especially anonymously. He carries on the conversation with Babe as they wait for Renee and Claudine to come back out.

“These flowers are absolutely beautiful.” Gene says, admiring the centerpiece in some attempt to not show how awkward he was feeling.

“Yeah.” Babe laughs, taking a sip of his drink. Claudine had made sure that they had an open bar, conversely Renee had made sure there was a three drink limit. 

“Are you gonna dance?” Gene asks, looking at the empty dance floor that was awaiting the couple for their first dance.

“I’m not much of a dancer, but I have no doubt that Renee is going to force both of us out there.” Babe laughs. As if on queue, the music starts and lights drop lower, a single spotlight going onto the doors as Claudine and Renee are announced. They didn’t choreograph anything elaborate, just a sweet slow dance to a jazz songs. Gene decides that if he was ever to get married, he’s also dancing to a slow jazz song because he thought he was done crying but seeing them slowly twirling across the dance floor brought tears back to his eyes.

The music changed to a faster song and people start coming onto the dance floor. Gene knows he wasn’t going to dance, but he needed to ask Claudine if she had gave him the tie and watch. Renee had never called him back that day when he asked so he just assumed it was Claudine, but now he wasn’t sure.

He excuses himself from the table and approaches the dance floor to see Claudine when Renee’s mom grabs his hand and drags him the opposite way to a whole group of awkward looking people dancing, and Gene knew it was Renee’s mom making sure everyone was dancing. 

Before Gene even knew what was happening, two hours had passed and the reception was almost over. Things were finally starting to cool down and Gene was able to break away from Renee’s mother to talk to Claudine. 

“Did you give me this tie and watch?” Gene asks desperately, not even bothering to lead up to the question at all.

“No?” Claudine questions, pushing her hair back behind her ear and taking his wrist in her hand, looking at the watch. “Why would I give you a tie and watch? Not that I wouldn’t give you a gift, it’s just-”

“If it wasn’t you it was Babe.” Gene interrupts “I’ve been getting random packages with gifts in them and I don’t know who they are from but if it’s not you or Renee, it’s Babe.”

“Woah, woah.” Claudine laughs, resting a hand on his shoulder. “Calm down, what gifts did you get?”

“A duck toy, a blanket, a hat, water bottle, and then this tie and watch.” 

“Okay… Yeah that sounds like Babe. Was it one of those fancy fruit infuser bottles?”

“How did you know?”

“Because he loves those things! Just go talk to him! Ask!” Claudine laughs, hugging Gene and then returning to the dancefloor, leaving him standing there stunned. 

Despite how badly he wanted to know, he never even considered asking Babe if it was him giving the gifts. He begins asking around for Babe since he couldn’t find him. Nobody had seen him so he figured he must have left as the reception was coming to a close. Gene sighs, sitting down at his table in defeat. 

“Gene?” Renee asks, pulling him out of his own head. Gene looks up and around the room to see that it was completely empty and workers were starting to clean up.

“Time to go?” Gene questions.

“If you would like to stay and wash dishes, that’s up to you.” Claudine laughs.

\--

Gene walks home with his head hung low. He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to confront Babe at the wedding, but now he feels like he missed his chance. He was working nonstop the next week at the hospital to make up for the three days he took off for the wedding and to help cover Renee while she was on her honeymoon. 

It was a rather warm night for the winter, but Gene was thankful for the hat he had been gifted. As he approaches his house, he can see something on the steps through the darkness and he worries it's another anonymous package. As he gets closer and his eyes adjust, he can make out what - or rather who - it is.

“Babe!” Gene yells, running the last couple of feet to reach him.

“Hi Gene.” Babe says shyly and this is the first time Gene has ever seen him look bashful.

“Was it you? Was it you giving me these gifts?” Gene asks.

“Of course.” Babe scoffs.

“What do you mean of course?” Gene questions. 

“Well I thought it was pretty obvious.” Babe shrugs. Gene stares blankly back at him, prompting him to further elaborate. “A duck, my favorite animal. Blanket and hat, because you were cold. Water bottle, because you should drink more water and less coffee. Tie and watch, because you needed them for the wedding. And now, flowers.” Babe smiles and picks them up from off the steps. Gene hadn’t even noticed them. They were the same from the wedding, obviously swiped from one of the centerpieces.

“Before you ask, they had extras and Renee let me have them.” 

“Oh my god.” Gene says, and he feels as if his heart has stopped beating in his chest. “Babe, no. I can’t accept all of this stuff. At least take back the watch, it’s way too expensive. I don’t know why you’re spending any money on me. I-” Gene is cut off as Babe grabs his face in between his hand and pushes their lips together, kissing him harshly before softening it as Gene wraps his arms around Babe’s waist. 

“I’m spending money on you because I like you, obviously.” Babe whispers against his lips.

Gene wants to shout out all of his affection for Babe but at the time, pressing their lips back together is better than words.


End file.
